Vigilantes have said they are 'prepared to die' defending shops from looters as South Africa's lawlessness entered its seventh consecutive day and the government mobilised 25,000 troops to quell the chaos.
Armed locals started defending shops after thousands were ransacked in riots across the country after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed on Friday for failing to appear in court on corruption charges.
At least 72 have so far died during the chaos, with police forces totally absent or in some cases, officers participating in looting. Vigilantes in Soweto have rallied around Maponya Mall, one of the few shopping centres still standing after 200 others were ransacked, defending it from looters in an effort to end the unrest.
Nhlanhla Lux, 33, described the mall as Soweto's 'last elephant' and vowed not to let it fall to rioters.
'We are on the verge of eating each other', he told the Financial Times. 'I for one am prepared to die... we can't sit back while the township economy dilapidates further'. It comes as the government said it would call out around 25,000 troops, including army reserves, to tackle the emergency - 10 times the number that it initially deployed.
'All reserve members are to report for duty at first light tomorrow morning 15 July 2021 at their respective units,' army chief Lieutenant-General Lawrence Mbatha said in orders issued overnight as the unrest entered its sixth day.
Looting continued on Thursday in KwaZulu-Natal province, but the streets of Johannesburg were calm as volunteers started to clean up the debris.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told parliament she had submitted a request for 'plus or minus' 25,000 troops in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, where security forces are struggling to quell the days of looting, arson and violence.
The request came after President Cyril Ramaphosa told leaders of political parties that parts of the country 'may soon be running short of basic provisions' following disruption to supply chains.
'The next big crisis will be the threat to food security in KZN, along with the supply of medication and fuel,' said John Steenhuisen, head of the opposition Demcratic Alliance.
'Protecting these supply chains must be a priority of the... deployment.' Pillaging continued into Thursday in Durban, where a Reuters reporter saw crowds in the Mobeni neighbourhood rolling away trolleys loaded with maize meal and other looted staples.
Some loaded pick-up trucks - one such truck had to be abandoned as it had run out of fuel. Taxi drivers blockaded some roads to try to prevent further looting.
In Johannesburg's central business district and the township of Alexandra, both also hit hard by violence, the streets were calm and volunteers took part in cleanup operations.
Shopkeepers and other residents sifted through the debris, cleared up trash and assessed what remained of their ruined businesses.
In Soweto, Councillor Mpho Moerane said about 300 volunteers were cleaning all the damaged shopping centers across the township. Two men were putting up steel doors on the entrance to a Shoprite liquor store in Bara Mall that was completely cleaned out and littered with broken glass.
At Diepkloof Mall in Soweto, South Africa's biggest township and one of the worst affected areas, about 50 people swept up broken glass and packed empty shoe boxes into plastic rubbish bags, a Reuters reporter said.
Clothing stores like Mr Price, Rage and Ackermans were empty, with only clothing racks and naked mannequins scattered across the floor.
'It's heartbreaking. Very, very heartbreaking. Everything is gone. It's going to take months to be back up again,' said Ricardo Desousa, manager of a ransacked butcher shop in Soweto's Bara Mall.
His staff were helping clean up the damage. 'They're not going to get paid,' he said. 'There's no money.'
